


Offense

by Donovanspen



Series: Whumptober 2019 [25]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Caring Magnus Bane, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Good Parabatai Jace Wayland, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Post-Canon, Prompt: Humiliation, Protective Jace Wayland, Upset Alec Lightwood, Upset Jace Wayland, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:53:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21842491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donovanspen/pseuds/Donovanspen
Summary: When disparaging remarks are made about Alec, he and Jace disagree on how it should have been handled."Magnus stared at his husband. He’d seen Alec upset plenty of times, and his husband had lost his temper on occasion, but he’d never heard him speak so coldly to his parabatai. Nor had he ever seen Jace look so hurt by anything Alec had said to him."
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Whumptober 2019 [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1503425
Comments: 13
Kudos: 391





	Offense

Magnus was just finishing up his inventory counts when he felt the gentle push against the wards before he heard the knock on the door. His heart immediately began racing as he recognized who was waiting in his hallway. He quickly rushed over to the door, his panic growing even more as Jace made no move to come on in. The words were out of his mouth before he even had the door fully open. “What happened? Is he all right?”

Jace looked confused as he stared at Magnus. “He’s not here?”

Now it was Magnus’s turn to be confused. “No. He was at the meeting in Idris. Did something happen?”

“You could say that,” Jace said as he stepped past Magnus and into the loft.

Magnus closed the door behind them and followed Jace into the living room. It wasn’t unusual for Jace to stop over and visit with either him or Alec, but Magnus was feeling that this was more than a casual visit. Jace seemed more keyed up than usual. His husband’s parabatai was a ball of energy and seemed to always be in motion, but today, he wasn’t moving around as much but seemed tightly coiled and ready to pounce.

“Jace?” he prompted.

Jace glanced around the room, taking a moment before he met Magnus’s eyes. “The day started off well. After the meeting there was a cocktail party. Some guys had a little too much to drink and started talking about the Downworld Cabinet. They were loud and people were starting to hear them.”

“What were they saying?” Magnus asked when Jace seemed reluctant to continue.

The muscle in Jace’s jaw twitched. “They said Alec’s interest in connecting with the Downworld had more to do with your relationship than with any real concern for Downworlders. The more they talked, the more explicit they got about your relationship.”

Magnus was stunned. He knew Shadowhunters would not easily give up old prejudices, but he thought Alec had accomplished enough to not be subjected to such public derision. “And of course, everyone just let it go.”

“A few people tried to get Stonewall to leave, but he just got louder and more profane. Even people who don’t agree with Alec were starting to get uncomfortable with how graphic he was being.”

“And Alexander, what did he do?”

Jace shook his head. “Nothing. He just stood there with his hands crossed behind his back like a good soldier and faced it head on. I finally had enough and dragged Stonewall out of there.”

“Quite the cocktail party,” Magnus muttered. “Alexander didn’t return with you?”

“Alec’s not talking to me. He didn’t appreciate how I handled the situation, said I just made everything worse.” Jace huffed out a sigh.

“You did,” Alec snapped.

Magnus had felt the brush of his wards before Jace had finished speaking. He turned and wanted to go greet Alec and pull him into his arms, but his husband was glaring into the room and giving no indication that he wanted to be approached.

“What was I supposed to do, Alec? Just stand there and let him keep talking? If he had been talking about anyone else in that manner, if he had been talking about Izzy, you would have taken him down after the first comment.”

“I told you I’m not a damsel that needs rescuing. Now, I’ve said all I have to say. Get out.”

Magnus stared at his husband. He’d seen Alec upset plenty of times, and his husband had lost his temper on occasion, but he’d never heard him speak so coldly to his parabatai. Nor had he ever seen Jace look so hurt by anything Alec had said to him. He felt he should say something to help diffuse the tension, but he didn’t know if his words would be welcome.

“Alec,” Jace tried. “I was only trying to help.”

“Help? You took a bad situation and made it worse.”

“I wasn’t just going to let him keep talking about you.”

“Do you honestly believe this is the first time I’ve heard comments like that?” Alec snapped. “Do you have any idea how it feels to walk through the halls of my institute and come across fellow Shadowhunters snickering about what position I’m in when I’m about to give it up to my Warlock? How I’m not qualified to lead Shadowhunters when I’m on my knees for a Downworlder? But I can’t go around beating up everyone who says that shit!”

Magnus cringed as he heard Alec’s words. Alec had never shared those moments with him. He had suspected there was still some resistance, but he didn’t realize to what extent. “Maybe we should all try to settle down, have a drink and talk this out,” he suggested.

“No,” Alec rasped, and Magnus could see his husband was struggling. Underneath all that anger was an aching wound of hurt that was threatening to bubble over. He knew Alec wouldn’t want that breakdown to happen in front of Jace.

“Perhaps tomorrow, then, after a good night’s sleep.” Magnus turned to Jace and shifted so he was standing between him and Alec. “It’s been a long day, and having unfortunately experienced similar situations, I can say with a degree of certainty that it will be better to have this conversation when emotions are not so high.”

Jace cast sad eyes upon Alec before shifting his gaze back to meet Magnus’s. “Ok.” He stepped past them but stopped once he passed Alec but didn’t turn around. “Alec, I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you or embarrass you. You’re my brother, and I’m always going to be there for you, however you need me to be.”

Magnus waited for the door to shut before asking “Do you want to talk about it?”

Alec shook his head. The tears he had been holding back leaked from the corner of his eyes.

Magnus took a step forward and held out his arms. Alec stepped into his embrace and burrowed his face in his collar. He could feel the warm tears soaking through the thin material.

“It was awful,” Alec whispered.

“I know, my love. I’m sorry this happened to you today. And while I understand how you didn’t need the extra attention, a part of me is pleased that your parabatai loves you enough to take that stand.”

“I can’t be in a leadership position and just go around beating people up,” Alec sniffed.

“No,” Magnus hummed as he ran his hand through Alec’s hair. “But Jace can.” Magnus pulled back a little until he could look into Alec’s eyes. He placed his palms on his wet cheeks. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. Talk to Jace. Tell him how you would like to handle things. Don’t let their bigotry make you uncomfortable to where you can’t talk to the people who love you.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“I understand it’s not, but your family loves you. Once you start that conversation, you’ll find it gets easier along the way. You get to choose how you want to deal with this, and I know they’ll support you.”

“I can sense he’s sad.”

“He’s worried about you.”

Alec sighed and reached up and took hold of Magnus’s hand, pulling them from his cheeks and pressing a kiss to each palm. “I’ll send him a text later.”

“Perhaps invite him over for breakfast. And then you two can go in tomorrow, together. The gossip will die down much faster when people see the two of you united and going about business as usual.”

“You really think that will work?” Alec asked.

“I’ve done it a time or two in the past. It doesn’t change what happened or how much it hurts, but I prefer to determine how I deal with those situations. Other people don’t get to choose for me.”

“Yeah ok.”

“Why don’t you go run a hot bath, and I’ll order something for dinner? I think we could do with a quiet night in.”

Alec nodded and pressed a kiss to his cheek before heading off towards the bedroom. Magnus’s heart ached for what his love had to endure today, but his husband was strong. He would come back even stronger with his husband and parabatai by his side. 


End file.
